Environment news

• Islanders asked to 'track' not 'trample' Asian hornets

  23-07-2026 13:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  More than 200 Asian hornet queens have been caught and nine nests destroyed so far this year.
  
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• Evacuated villagers in Cairngorms allowed home after wildfire threat lifts

  26-07-2026 00:08
  Scottish first minister thanks Nethy Bridge residents and aid workers after earlier requesting UK military aid to fight 10-day fireResidents of Nethy Bridge have been told they can return to their homes after a large fire broke out in the Cairngorms national park.Supt Judy Hill of Police Scotland said: “Thanks to the efforts of fire crews, gamekeepers, contractors, partners and many others over the past 24 hours, there is no longer the immediate threat which prompted the evacuation of prop
  
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• Mega datacentre planned for outer Melbourne will be six times bigger than a large shopping centre

  25-07-2026 22:00
  More than 3,600 people sign petition for careful assessment of proposed AI hub, now a flashpoint for national debate on datacentre boomGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFor some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. It was a “friendly introduction from the team behind the Victorian AI hub”.“I am knocking on doors to explain what we have in mind and, most importantly, to listen,” the letter from Syncline Energy stated. Continue reading
  
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• Mega datacentre planned for outer Melbourne will be almost six times the size of Chadstone shopping centre

  25-07-2026 22:00
  More than 3,600 people sign petition for careful assessment of proposed AI hub, now a flashpoint for national debate on datacentre boomGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFor some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. It was a “friendly introduction from the team behind the Victorian AI hub”.“I am knocking on doors to explain what we have in mind and, most importantly, to listen,” the letter from Syncline Energy stated. Continue reading
  
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• Locals fear for their children’s quality of life if the biggest coalmine extension in NSW is approved

  25-07-2026 22:00
  Minns government promised no new coalmines but permits expanding existing sites, despite being behind on climate targetsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt Branxton community hall in the New South Wales Hunter Valley last week, local resident Janet Murray was given five minutes to speak about plans for the state’s biggest coalmine extension.Before her were dozens of people, also there to share their views about whether the 19-year extension proposed by Hunter Vall
  
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• Swinney requests UK military aid as 500 firefighters tackle Cairngorms wildfire

  25-07-2026 18:50
  Scottish first minister hopes aerial support will help quench 10-day fire that has forced evacuation of Highlands villageThe first minister of Scotland has asked for military aid from the UK government as more than 500 firefighters continue to tackle a firewhich has raged in the Cairngorms national park for the past 10 days and forced the evacuation of homes in the remote region.John Swinney has said the blaze remains a “major and serious” incident but that Saturday afternoon had bro
  
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• More than 250,000 people flee wildfires in France and Spain

  25-07-2026 16:50
  Hundreds of firefighters battle blazes as strong winds drive fires towards Bordeaux and smoke prompts health warnings in MadridUnrestrained wildfires in Spain and France have forced more than 250,000 people to flee, authorities from both countries have said, as they struggle to contain the blazes.About 70,000 people were evacuated from central Spain, while 197,000 people fled in France, including tens of thousands from the wine region city of Bordeaux. Continue reading...
  
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• Firefighters in Spain and France battle raging wildfires – video

  25-07-2026 16:11
  Footage shows the extent of the devastation caused by wildfires in Cenicientos, in the Madrid region of Spain, on Friday. Members of Spain's military emergency unit sought to contain the blazes in the Madrid region and in Cuevas de Cañart in the country's north-east. In France, dozens of firefighters battled flames threatening homes around the towns of Saumos and Sainte-Hélène in the south-west as a wildfire swept the nearby forest. The virulence of the wildfires, fuelled by
  
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• France and Spain race to control wildfires as more than 250,000 evacuated – live

  25-07-2026 13:52
  Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first ministerTell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.The French newspaper reported the aircraft’s use was no
  
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• France and Spain race to control wildfires as Bordeaux suburbs evacuated – live

  25-07-2026 13:24
  Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first ministerTell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.The French newspaper reported the aircraft’s use was no
  
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• Young country diary: A jellyfish party around our surfboards | Jess

  25-07-2026 12:00
  North Devon: The cool water was full of them – and we found out later that one of them, the compass jellyfish, should be avoidedOn a scorching hot day, my friend and I went surfing at my local beach. We partnered up to carry the boards down to the water – mine coral-coloured, his blue – and we clambered across the dunes, with the sand burning the soles of our feet. As we jumped into the cool water, we realised we were not alone. At first, we saw one or two, but by the point we
  
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• Entire Cairngorms village evacuated as raging wildfire nears

  25-07-2026 11:45
  Major incident declared over blaze that has intensified amid strengthening windsA major incident has been declared over a wildfire that has been raging in the Cairngorms national park for more than a week, police have said, with a whole village having been evacuated.Officers from Police Scotland said there had been a significant change in weather conditions, with strengthening winds making a fire that has been burning out of control for 11 days yet more difficult to contain. Continue reading...
  
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• Almost 75% of England’s riverbanks ‘off limits’ to public, figures show

  25-07-2026 09:00
  
  Campaigners urge government to introduce right of access to water, particularly as heatwaves become more commonAlmost three-quarters of riverbanks in England have no public access, according to data released by the Right to Roam campaign.Across the country, the public cannot use riverbanks or gain access to the rivers themselves in most of the river catchments from the west of Cornwall up to the Tweed, which flows through northern England and Scotland. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Without us, they are doomed’: volunteers save fish from French rivers drying up in heatwaves

  25-07-2026 08:00
  Fish being moved to oxygenated flowing water further downstream as water levels drop across countryAlong the Odet River in Brittany, fisher Mathieu Le Bouter and a dozen volunteers are catching hundreds of trout and young salmon – not for sport but to save them.They are only a few miles from the source of the river, which springs from the Black Mountains in Finistère and runs for about 40 miles (65km) into the Atlantic Ocean, but the water is barely up to their knees. Continue readi
  
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• ‘No time to waste’: Greece bids for Mount Olympus to be included on Unesco list of world heritage sites

  25-07-2026 06:00
  Officials have long lobbied for peak that rises 2,918 metres above sea level to be given coveted designationMore than four decades have elapsed since Evangelos Geroliolios made his first ascent to the home of the ancient gods. At the top of Mount Olympus, on the rocky peak of Greece’s highest mountain, he felt unalloyed awe.“I’ve never forgotten that unique moment, that unique feeling up there on the throne of Zeus,” recalled Geroliolios, who as mayor of Dion-Olympus now
  
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• Lofty ambitions: can puffer jackets be made more sustainable?

  25-07-2026 02:00
  As temperatures dip, the puffer’s appeal inflates. But quality and filler are factors to consider before buying newChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] you call it a parka, puffer or Tassie tuxedo, the insulated jacket has become a cold-weather closet staple.A 1920s version by Australian mou
  
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• This desert oasis is a biological wonderland. Trump’s border wall threatens to destroy it

  24-07-2026 22:36
  Environmental groups are sounding the alarm over plans that threaten a desert spring that’s home to rare fish and turtles and sacred to the O’odham peopleQuitobaquito Springs in south-west Arizona has been called a biological wonderland with few equals.The springs are an oasis in the vast Sonoran desert along the US-Mexico border, held sacred by the O’odham people, who call it A’al Vaipia. Here, water flows out of an aquifer at the bottom of a hill, runs along a short con
  
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• Water bosses’ pay rises despite bonus ban and public fury over bills and pollution

  24-07-2026 19:09
  Exclusive: Eight companies expect to be covered by the ban for 2025-26, the Guardian can revealWater company bosses’ total pay rose over the past year despite a government bonus ban and public outrage over pollution and bills, the Guardian can reveal.One chief executive, Mark Thurston of Anglian Water, received £1.9m – including a £500,000 “retention payment”, despite the bonus ban. Continue reading...
  
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• Parts of England under heat alert with 30C temperatures possible

  24-07-2026 18:52
  Warning in place until Sunday morning in southern and central regions after drought declared in parts of WalesHeat alerts are in place across parts of England, with possible highs of 30C (86F) and officials saying temperatures are likely to have an impact on health and wellbeing.The yellow heat health alerts issued for the East Midlands, east of England, London, south-east, south-west and West Midlands are in place until 9am on Sunday. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on ponds: these freshwater havens need a law of their own | Editorial

  24-07-2026 18:48
  Small pools don’t get the same attention as polluted rivers or seas. But they have a vital role to play in boosting natureFrogs; newts; small fish such as minnows and sticklebacks; dragonflies; water boatmen and water snails: these are just a few of the hundreds of animal species that make their homes in Britain’s ponds alongside diverse wetland plants, some of which are endangered. Yet while small bodies of water are cherished by hobbyists as well as scientists, they have startlingl
  
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• 'Buck Moon' set to light up sky

  24-07-2026 18:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  July's full Moon is set to be a special one - Sophia Herod explains why.
  
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• Rain returns for some parts of the UK

  24-07-2026 18:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rain is returning for some of us this weekend – but is it enough for places that have seen little or now rain for weeks?
  
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• A global threat for millennia: experts warn Australia’s nuclear submarine legacy will be weapons-usable uranium cache

  24-07-2026 17:00
  Exclusive: Uranium waste from Aukus submarines will be enriched to an estimated 80%: the same level as the bomb dropped on HiroshimaAustralia’s proposed nuclear submarine fleet will leave behind tonnes of weapons-usable uranium-235: radioactive for hundreds of millions of years, and capable of being processed into scores of warheads, nuclear experts have told a public inquiry into Aukus.And a former White House national security adviser has told the Guardian that Australia’s Aukus de
  
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• Tens of thousands evacuated from French tourist spot and near Madrid as wildfires spread

  24-07-2026 16:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The fire has raged in the region for several days with officials now ordering the evacuation of the entire Cap Ferret peninsula.
  
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• Nutrients in our food are declining. Can regenerative agriculture save it?

  24-07-2026 14:34
  Approach focuses on rebuilding soil health, increasing biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystemsFor the last few decades, the nutrient content of our crops has been declining. In the late 90s, the US Department of Agriculture found the vitamin C content of lemons had decreased by almost a third over the previous 22 years. Calcium in carrots, an important source especially for non-meat eaters, had reduced, on average, by more than a quarter. Vitamin A in bananas was down by 57%. The mineral c
  
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• ‘Total chaos’: the biological wonderland threatened by Trump’s border wall

  24-07-2026 13:00
  Environmental groups are sounding the alarm over plans that threaten a desert spring that’s home to rare fish and turtles and sacred to the O’odham peopleQuitobaquito Springs in south-west Arizona has been called a biological wonderland with few equals.The springs are an oasis in the vast Sonoran desert along the US-Mexico border, held sacred by the O’odham people, who call it A’al Vaipia. Here, water flows out of an aquifer at the bottom of a hill, runs along a short con
  
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• Mangrove photography awards 2026 – in pictures

  24-07-2026 10:00
  A selection of the winners, runners-up and highly commended photos from the Mangrove photography awards, run by the Mangrove Action Project, which received 5,258 entries from 87 countries. In its 12th year, the awards continue to offer a window into landscapes viewers may otherwise never encounter Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife: a thirsty baby hedgehog, a rare puffling and a jumping spider

  24-07-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• What can the Galápagos Islands’ animals teach us about the threats of El Niño?

  24-07-2026 08:00
  In this week’s newsletter: the archipelago at the centre of the extreme weather phenomenon could help scientists predict how other marine ecosystems will adapt to our warming climate• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe ocean waters around the Galápagos Islands are hot. Very hot. Observed for centuries in the Pacific by fishers, the El Niño weather phenomenon begins when the prevailing trade winds slow, allowing warm water to spread eas
  
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• One year, 17 towns, dozens of voices: what we heard along the coast of England and Wales

  24-07-2026 08:00
  Reporting from some of the poorest seaside towns revealed how young people have been left isolated – but remain resilient and full of hopeIf you were asked to summon up images of the coastline of England and Wales, you might think of sunny days, buckets, spades and carefree holidays. But for many young people growing up by the sea, decades of evidence tell a very different story. For them, rather than a picture-perfect horizon full of hope, the sea has become a boundary that swallows up op
  
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